Accountants often shun the limelight, but these days, this certified public accountant can often be found speaking on behalf of her Big Three accounting firm. Brooke is in charge of strategy, communications and regulatory affairs, where she has lent her distinguished career achievements to the public policy debate over the accounting profession's controversies of the last few years. A Purdue alumna, Brooke previously headed E&Y's tax advisory division in Washington, D.C. Brooke has also served some of E&Y's largest clients in the health care, insurance and financial services industries, and she has been recognized by the trade publication Accounting Today as one of the top 100 most influential people in accounting. In 1993, Brooke left E&Y to join the Treasury Department under the administration of President Bill Clinton. She also serves on half a dozen nonprofit boards. Chana Schoenberger

Published sources include the women's official biographies, Factiva, International Who's Who of 2005, Marquis Who's Who, World Almanac of Famous People, Palgrave Who's Who 2005, the Congressional Yellow Book, the Judicial Yellow Book, Europa World Year Book, Hoover's Online, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, World Economic Forum, the World Book Encyclopedia. Rankings generated by combining various financial figures with other media and biography metrics; global media mentions from Factiva.

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